PUPILS across Lancashire could be told to stay away from school after it was revealed almost 500 new staff are awaiting clearance to take up their posts.

Teachers, support staff, cleaners and dinner ladies do not know if they can start work when schools return next week after the national Criminal Records Bureau became deluged with vetting requests from across the country.

Lancashire County Council today admitted 450 staff are still in limbo, while 40 classes in Blackburn with Darwen face being without teachers on the first day of term.

teaching unions today claimed that they warned of potential problems for schools in May.

The CRB service, part of which is run from private firm Capita's base at India Mill in Darwen, expects to be over the backlog by September 4 -- but that will be too late for local schools.

Capita has been criticised for the way it has administered the system but a spokeswoman for the firm said it had been deluged with applications in recent weeks and added: "We are making every effort to ensure that all teaching applicants will have received clearance."

The CRB was launched in March this year to provide a 'one-stop shop' for schools, councils and voluntary organisations who need to carry out checks.

Previously, organisations had had to approach the police and the Home Office to get details of someone's past and check the suitability for a job.

The backlog increased following the disappearance of Cambridgeshire 10-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman four weeks ago. The man accused of their murder, Ian Huntley, was a caretaker at their school.

The government immediately insisted that all teachers starting new jobs should be subject to a full CRB check, rather than just referring to the Home Office 'List 99', which contains details of people unsuitable for sensitive posts.

At the same time, a deluge of applications has come from concerned community groups wanting checks on workers.

The county council has left it up to headteachers to decide whether they should send children home or just make sure unchecked staff are not left alone with youngsters.

But Blackburn with Darwen Council, which employs 1,400 teachers, has stressed that no uncleared teacher would be placed on front of a class.

Schools in Burnley have already returned but a county council spokesman said the education authority had received no reports of schools struggling to cope.

The backlog has made it more difficult for teaching agencies. A spokesman for Blackburn-based Keystage Recruitment said: "It has been a hellish time."

A county council spokesman said: "It is impossible to say at this stage whether children would need to be sent home.

"Much will depend on the size and type of the school, the sort of work that the new employee will be carrying out and whether it is possible to provide adequate cover from existing resources.

"It will only be new staff, who have never been cleared and who have substantial contact with children that will be unable to take up their duties in full."

Peter Morgan, director of education at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "We can assure parents no un-cleared teacher will be placed in front of a class."

A spokesman for the Secondary Heads Association said: "As a result of the government's failure to heed warnings a year ago during the setting up of the CRB, we now have an emergency situation."